Clutch



l Oct. Y9, 1928.

l,686,584 kG. P. THOMAS CLUTCH Filed May 8, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 F l E .Z

/N VEN-rafa A @www WWA/asses oct. 9, 192s. y1,686,584, G. P. THQMAs CLUTCH v Filed May 8, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet.. 3

FIEFI. l/

[ML -IH I Y v /NVE/vroR to engage each other.

Patented @et 9, i928.

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GEORGE Pv. THOMAS, OF GLEQ'SIAV, PENNSYLVANIA.

cLUfrcr-i,

Application filed ay 8, 1925`- Serial No. 28,797.

chine of the kind mentioned includes two.

clutch elements, one orp which is immovably attached to a driving member, and the other oi which is a ring feathered upon a criven member for rotation with and longitudinally movable on it, the adjacent faces ot the clutch elements being provided with teeth adapted The power transmitted tl'irough suoli clutches is so great that, as soon as the driving Vfaces of the teeth lon the movable ring are engaged b y those of the teeth on the driving member, the ring cannot be moved farther into clutch-closingfor making position. Frequently the teeth oi the two clutch elements are in only partial mesh when the driving faces engage eachother. The result is that power is transmitted through only the outer -ends lof the teeth, which causes undue wear on them, and sometimes breaks them,

to overcome which is one object of this in-A vention.

Furthermore, the movable clutch ring ot such clutches is usually urged toward clutch making or `closing position by a spring, and is moved .to and-held in clutchebrealring position, against the resistance ,of the spring, by a movable pawl or finger which has sliding contact with a lug 'termed on the ring, andl which, accordingly issubjected to consider able wear. Due to such wear on the pawl, as weil as to wear onlother parts ot the clutch mechanism, and due also to other causes incident to the continuous pressure of the clutch ring toward clutehclosing position, the normal retracted position of the clutch ring gradually approaches the other clutch element nntil the ou ter ends oi the teeth of the two clutch elements moet. This results in the ends of the clutch teeth becoming worn down, and some-V of such sprind.

overcome these objectionable features, and'l at the same time provide a quick-acting clutch.

The invention is illustrated in the accomypany'ing drawings, of which Figfl isa side view of a clutch mechanism arranged to trans-v mit power to the drivenfelement oi" ,a machine;

Fig.Y 2 a plan view ofthe mechanism shown inf- Figi; 3 a vertical'sectional view taken on the line ille-IH, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 a vertical, sectional view taken substantially onthe line 1V -IV, Fig. l; Figs. 5 and transve-rse sectional views talren. respectively, on the lines V-V'and VI-VI, Fig. 3; and Fig; 7 abettom view of a movable clutch ringand a sectional view oi a pawl iormoving it, the planev oi view being generally indicated by the line VHHVH, Fig. 1i.

rihat the teeth of .the clutch .elements may always be brought into full engagement with each other before power is transmitted through them, the clutch ring isV mounted for. limited angular movement upon and with relation to the' member. which carriesV it, and is yieldingly urged in an Aangular directionV opposed'to that oi" the rotation of theidrivinlg and driven members, the arrangementbeing such that-in case the outer ends of the driv-f ing 'faces of the cooperating clutch elements immediately engage each other when thel clutch ring is m'oved'to close the clutch, the clutch ring may be arth er moved lto bring the clutch teeth into full engagement with-each'4 other before power 'istransmitted through the clutch'. j As far as ooncernsthisfeature of the invention, the clutclrring maybe variously moved to andfrom clutch-closing position, and may be variously maintained in clutchbrealring positi m-- To prevent undesirable consequences incident to the continuous urging of theclutch ring towards clutch-making position, suchring Vis,according to another feature -of'the invention, .continuously urgedl toward clutch-breaking position, andpro-- vision is made for positively .moving itl into clutchemalring position. Preferably, the" clutch ring isurged toward and maintained 5 in clutch-breakino' osition b a Serin and K b .7

is moved into clutclrmaking position vby* a lever which is moved against ythe resistance .then stop its rotation so'that the material being punched may be moved. The clutch illustrated herein is ariangedto effect such operation, although it will be understood that the invent-ion.V is not limited to a clutch for this particular purpose, l

On theouter end of shaft 2 there is rotatablymountedV a driving member in the form of agear Wheel l3. Which may be continuously rotated by a motor. Attached to the face of gearj3,"andrsurrounding shaft 2, there is a clutch element 4'provided on its vertical 4face with clutch teeth 5, the driving faces of which areindicated at 6. mountedy for longitudinal movement to and from clutch element 4` a clutch ring 7 provided on its vertical face with teethv 8, theV driving faces of Which are indicated at 9.

To so mount ring 7 on shaft 2 that it may have avlimited angular movement upon the shaft before power is transmitted through it, the shaft is provided With keys 10 (Fig. 5) adapted to be received by grooves 11 (Figs. 4 and 5) of greater Widths than the keys. Ring 7 is normally urged in an angular direction opposite tor the direction of rotation of the driving and driven members by means of a spring 12 which is -connected at one end to ring 7 and at its other end to a disk 13, which, as shown in Fior. 6, is so keyed to shaft 2 that it has no angular mov-ement With relation to it. By so mounting ring 7, the transmission of power through the clutch does not take place until after clutch element 4 has moved ring 7 angularly upon shaft 2 a distance corresponding to the.` difference betvveenV the vWidth of a groove 11 and its contained key 10.

During "such interval ring 7 may be moved Ylongitiidinally to bring the cooperating nally, it is preferably provided With an annu n clutch teeth into other.' y

For positively moving 4ring 7 longitudifull engagement with each lar groove 15 engaged by trunnions 16 attached to lever arms 17, which in turn are secured to a rock shaft 18. The ring may be normally urged to its clutch-breaking position indicated in the drawings by means of tension springs 19 attached at their ends to levers 17 and-to blocks 20 borne by frame 1.

In this Way vthe teeth 8 of ring 7Aare maintained outof contact with the teeth 5 of vclutch element 4 during such times las the clutch elements are out of engagement with y each other.

On shaft 2 there isv Before explaining the means for moving ring 7 longitudinally into clutch -making position against the resistance of springs 19, the means for moving it into clutchsbreaking position Will be described. For the latter purpose, the rim of ring 7 is provided with a laterally-extending lug 25 having beveled ends as shown in Figs. 1 and 7, and a finger or paivl 26 is arranged for movements transversely of the longitudinal movement of this ring, the end of the paivl beingv adapted to be' engaged by a'beveledend of the lug vWhen the clutch is closed and rotation is imparted to ring 7 to .cause the lug to move in an annular path. Preferably paivl 26 is yieldingly urged into the rannular path of'lug 25 "by means of a spring 28' acting between a support 29, attached to frame 1, and a collar 30 attached to the paivl.l rJhe engagement of the pawl by the lug occurs near the end of a'complete revolution of shaft2, and further rotation of thevr shaft to complete' its revolution causes paWl 26 to press'against and move ring 7 out ofengagement with clutch element-4. Both ends of lug 25 are beveled so that in case Vit becomes necessary to rotate the driving andV driven members in the direction opposite from tliatkincident tothe normal operation of the machine, the clutch may be opened and injury to paivl 26 may be avoided.

Before ring 7 is moved longitudinally into engagement With clutch element 4it is neceesary to remove paivl 25, Which may be done in various Ways, but which is preferably done by the positivelyVv acting means for moving ring 7 into engagement with clutch element 4..

which positively acting means Will new be en# plained.V Attached to shaftA 18'tliere is an arm 31 pivotally connected at itsouter end to the upper end of a rod 32, the lower end of which rod is pivotally attached to a lever 33, Fig. 1. This lever may be 1aivoted at 34 to frame 1, and is preferably actuated by the movable armature 35 of a'solenoid 36 which may be energized manually or-in coordination With the .operation of a punching machine in various manners, as'for example, in coordination With the rotation of shaft 2in the manner fully disclosed in my copending patent application, Serial No. 722,447. The

tions just explained. n

Between this clutch-moving mechanism and paivl 26 connect-ions are provided for.

moving the paivl from the annular path of' lug 25 before clutch ring 7 is moved into clutch-making position. For this purpose outer end of lever 33 so Y ric

the lower end of paWl 26 is Ypreferably provided withk latch 40v adaptedto be engaged lbva hook 41 formed on the end of a finger 42 which is pivotallv attached at 43 to a'lever 44. This lever is pivotally mounted at 45 on `frame l, and ispivotally connected at i6 to rod 32 so 4that the downward movement oit `this rod moves finger i2 downwardly, andrin weights i8 and 60.

consequence thereofwithdraws pawl 26 from .the longitudinal path'of movement of lug 25.

The upper end of rod 32 is provided with a slot i7 at its point of pivotal connection to the outer end ott arm 3l, and such rod may beheld upwardly by a counter-weight 4% attached to lever and a counter-weight 60 attached to` lever 44, so that the initial downward movement of `rod 32 does not cause arm'Sl to move downwardly, and therefore ,does not cause clutch ring 7 to move into clutch-making position. lt will be seen from this that the downward movement ot rod 3l, eidected by the energizing ot solenoid 38, first moves pawl 26 downwardly/'and thereafter moves clutch ring` 7 longitudinally.

Provision is made for releasing pawl 26 shortly after it has been withdrawn `from the longitudinal path oit lug 25, so thatV the pawl mayouiclrly return to the position in which it lies `in the annular path of the lug. For this purpose, lever Li2 is provided with a laterally extending' arm 50, which, when the lever is moved downwardly. strikes a vertically adjustable stop 5l attached to 'frame l, and` causes linger 42 to move to the lett, as viewed in Ll, against the resistance ot a spring 52 which normally holds the iinejer in its in dicated position. This movement of finger l2 to the left carries its hooked end il out of engagement with latch 40 so that the latch may immediately be moved by spring' 28 intoy In the complete operation ot the clutchl movinaj mechimisin.` assuming clutch ring 7 to be in clutch-breaking posit-ion, the downward movement of rod 32 removes pawl 26 from its position in the'lornritndinall path ot movement of lufr offrino; 7 and thereafter moves ring 7 into clutch-inalrina` position.

rlhe iinal Adownward movement ot rod 32 causes finger 42 to irelease the lower end or" -pawl 26 so that/it may quickly return,

under the action of sprinef 28, into the annular pat-h ot' lugV 25. `When this lugpis engaged by the pawl, rino: 7 is moved :fromclutch-rnakin@k position, and, as soon as the teeth ot the cli-itch are thus disenaaeed, 19 move the rino' urth er outwardly and maintain. it yield-V inaly clutch-breaking' position. rl`his con-V structionv affords a quick acting clutch. and maires it impossible 'for more than one cycle of operation of the machine to kbe eiiected making positionf l by one movement-of- -clu'tch ring 7 into clutch- The-clutch elements and 7 are engaged by -the a-:ial movement of the ring .7 inthe direction of the memberll which'is effected by the solenoid 36 through tliefmovable larmature and the linlragre 33, 32 and the lever 17 which operates thetrunnions 16. The'solenoi-d is energized to act-nate it-s armature thereby engaging the clutch teeth which are'.

maintained Vin operativejengagement by virtue of the torque transmitted thereby-until the pa-wl 26 engages the lug-25- of the ring 7.

to disengakgfe the clutch element. o The solenoid is energized only temporarilyto engage the clutch andis deenergized during the operation o the clutch after its teeth 5 and 8 are engaged.. f

Accordingto the-provisionsot the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and operation oit my invention, and have illutrat-v edl and described what l now considerto,

represent its best` embodiment.y However, l desire vto have it understood that', within the scope or" the appended claims, the invention in ay be practiced'by other forms ot construction than' 4that particularly illustrated and' described; I l

claim as my invention:

i@ se with a. toothed clutch element, adriven meinber, a toothed clutch ring mounted on said driven member for. rotation with it'. and for longitudinal movement onit to and'from en* ,grassi-nent with said clutch element and provided .with a laterally extending lun; of

means for yieldingly inaintainina` said ring,V rin clutch-breaking position, positive means for moving: said ring; int-o clutch-making pof sitionv against the resistanceV or" said firstnamed means, a pawl yieldinglyi nrgged into the annular path-of said luefter moving theV clutch rings' from engagement with said cli-.itch

element, connections between saidfpawl and.

said positive rine-movingj'means for moving .the paw). 'from the longitudinal pathofsaid lng before said ringr is-moved longitudinally been movedlongitudinally int-o clutch-maltposition. M

2f in a clutch Amechanism,the,combination with a rotatable driving member provided with atoothed clutch element, a driven inemhei, toothed clutch rinaj mounted on said. driven member :for rotation with'it and for ln a yclutch mechanism, the combination with a. rotatable driving' member provided to clutch-making; position, andmeans forv breaking; said connection after said ring' has se y loo

lon fritndinal movement onit to and. from eni ,sagement with said clutch elementand provided with laterally extending' lug; of

means iter yieldingl vV maintaining' said ring in cimeli-breaking position, positive means vfor moving' said ringrinto clutsh-inalring position against the resistance of said first-named means, a. pawl yieldingly .urged'into the any nularfpath of said lugfor moving the Clutch ring from engagement Withsaid clutch eleinen, connections including L pivoted latch 'loeinvee'n said pzivvlV and Said positive ringinoving means for moving` the pawl from the longitudinal path of said lug' before said ring is moved longitudinally into clutoh-1naking position, and means for releasing said pivoteo latch to break said connections after said ring has been moved longitudinally to olutoh-V 19 making position. f

In'testirnony whereof, I sign my name.

GEORGE P. THOMAS. L 

